


A Healer's Guide to the Quidditch Pitch

by Taliesin19



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Healer Harry Potter, Post-Canon, Quidditch Player Ginny Weasley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:09:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25699348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taliesin19/pseuds/Taliesin19
Summary: A dangerous virus has broken out throughout the Quidditch league causing each club to go into quarantine. Healer Harry Potter, fresh into his Magical Games and Sports rotation, is one of several to be called in to carry out health examinations. His current stop: Holyhead.Written for the Harry/Ginny Discord 2020 Birthday Challenge.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 22
Kudos: 78





	A Healer's Guide to the Quidditch Pitch

"This is ridiculous, you know that, right?"

Harry pursed his lips as he scribbled down a quick note. "So I've been told," he murmured, placing his quill back in the inkwell. "Arms out, please."

Henrietta Blanche, Beater for the Holyhead Harpies and current thorn in Harry's side, rolled her eyes as she threw her arms out.

He ran his wand slowly from shoulder to fingertip and repeated the motion on her other side. 

"Are we nearly done here?" she said after he turned away. "I've got places to  _ not _ be."

"Blow on this," Harry said, nudging a potion-filled beaker in her direction as he pulled out the last sheet in her file. 

She clicked her tongue and picked it up before letting out a long exhale.

After a few seconds, the purple solution turned orange, and Harry gave a brusque nod. "Good," he said. "You're clear."

Blanche stood up at once. "And you're sure I can't leave early?" she said, crossing her arms. "At least before the weekend. I've got a thing on Saturday, _ very _ important.”

Harry tamped down his irritation. If he had a bloody sickle for every time…

"How horribly unfortunate," he said, causing her to scowl. “But it’s not in my hands. The virus can take up to--"

"A fortnight to incubate," she cut off. "I heard you the first twelve hundred times." 

"Until then, no one is to leave the premises," he continued. "It's for your protection as well as others. We all have to make sacrifices, I'm afraid."

She sighed loudly, but thankfully let the matter rest.

"Send in the next person, please," he said as she left the room.

Harry dumped his hands in the sanitizing solution before walking over to the basin and running them through with soap and water. 

This was mind-numbing work, really. And not what he had in mind when applying for the magical games and sports rotation for his Healing internship. He'd been thinking more along the lines of brutal bludger hits, shattered bones, and torn limbs. He'd rather a jammed thumb at this point. 

But no, what he got was a virus. Travelling from one Quidditch club to the next to test for a bloody virus. And until the entire league was deemed healthy, he'd be stuck doing this same routine for the next several weeks.

The sound of a knock at the door interrupted his brooding thoughts, and he flicked his eyes up. 

"Are you ready for me?"

Harry nodded, feeling his spirits lift at once. Perhaps there was one upside to all of this. "Of course," he said, gesturing toward the exam table. 

Ginny Weasley gave him a bright smile before taking a seat. 

"Would you like me on my back, first?" she said, causing Harry to snap his head up from where he'd been digging through the stack of files on his desk.

"Pardon?" he said.

Ginny patted the table to clarify.

“Oh. Yes,” he said, clearing his throat. “Please.”

She pressed her lips together as though trying to hold back a smile, and he prayed for a hole to appear in the floor to swallow him up. 

Being the Quidditch-obsessed fan that he was, Harry had long ago developed more than a little crush on Ginny Weasley. She had more talent in her little finger than most teams put together, after all. And with a face like that? He really hadn’t stood a chance.

During their first encounter last week, he'd had to physically hold himself back from asking for an autograph as it simply wouldn’t be professional. 

Neither would be developing real, actual, non-fanboy feelings for her. But to his dismay, she was just as charming in person as she was from a distance.  Which was, of course, entirely inappropriate, as he kept reminding himself. Ginny was his patient, and he had absolutely no right to be feeling anything but professional concern for her. 

Not in here, anyway. Those other feelings had their time and place. Namely...at night in the solitary confines of his tent.

"Feeling all right, today?" Harry said, refusing to let his mind wander down that path.

Ginny nodded, moving her hands to her sides as he approached. 

Harry held his wand over her chest, and the sound of her heart beating amplified to fill the room. He listened for a moment before moving on to check her other vitals.

As he was taking down his notes, Harry’s eyes caught the date at the top of her file. "Ah, happy birthday," he said with a smile.

Ginny gave a small frown and then relaxed her face. "So embarrassing,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m sorry.”

“Er…” he said, knitting his forehead. “Why?”

“Who told you?” she said with a tiny grimace. “Actually, it doesn’t matter. Whoever it was, just ignore what they’ve said, please. Especially Evie…and Hen. You know what, just ignore everything everyone’s said about me for your own peace of mind.”

Harry gave her an amused look. “No one's told me anything. It’s, er...in your records,” he said, gesturing towards her file. “But I’ll keep that in mind.”

Her cheeks turned a bit pink in response, and it was just about the cutest fucking thing he'd ever seen.

"Of course it is," she said closing her eyes for a moment. "I'm an idiot.”

"You’re not," he said at once, causing her to look up at him. "I mean...I’m the creep who pays too much attention to personal details."

She let out a loud laugh. "You're definitely not a creep, Harry," she said, before widening her eyes slightly. "Erm...sorry. Healer Potter."

He licked his lips and tried to hold back a smile. "No, Harry’s fine." 

They held each other's gaze for a moment, Harry's heart pounding in his ears. But he forced himself to snap out of it and continue the exam.

"So...do you not like your birthday?" he said, making conversation for no other reason than to extend their time together for as long as possible.

"What? Oh no, I love it," she said with a grin. "A whole day dedicated to me, are you kidding? Frankly there should be more of them."

Harry chuckled. "Well, you just seemed a bit upset at the idea of your teammates telling me,” he said. 

At this, Ginny shifted in her seat. "Oh, it's...nothing. Some of them just like to get into everyone’s business even if they have no place being there.”

Harry had no clue what that was supposed to mean, but he nodded anyway.

"Right, well...happy birthday again," he said, reaching for the beaker behind him before turning back around. "Just a blow, please."

Ginny’s lips twitched. "Of course. My pleasure," she said staring at him as she exhaled over the potion.

The look in her eyes made the back of Harry's neck heat up.

But she couldn't possibly…

No. He was being ridiculous. 

Definitely reading into things.

When the potion turned orange, Harry gave her a satisfied look. "Good to go," he said with a smile. "I hope you enjoy yourself today. Just don't go too wild." 

"Right, I'll try not to party hard while in quarantine."

He winked at her and she laughed.

* * *

"Where are you going?"

Ginny swore quietly and turned to face her teammate in the dark. "For a walk."

Evie lit up her wand and sat up. "Cute," she said. "You'll get suspended if you're caught, Ginny."

"Then I won't get caught."

"Yeah? What do you call this?”

With a heavy sigh, Ginny walked towards Evie's bed and sat on the edge. "It's my birthday,” she said. “I've been stuck in this tent for a fortnight, bored out of my mind. I just want to be up in the air for a bit. I'll be careful, I promise."

Evie frowned and crossed her arms. "And what if you've got the virus? The elevation can harm you, it's why they made the stupid rule in the first place."

" _ Extended  _ elevation," Ginny said. "I asked Harry about it the other day. He said you'd need to be up in the air for at least 2-4 hours before you’d experience any side effects."

Evie raised an eyebrow.

"Also...no diving, barrel rolls, loops, or spins," Ginny added quietly.

"Do you even hear yourself right now?" 

Ginny clicked her tongue. "Just go to sleep, okay? You never saw me," she said, standing back up. "I'll be 45 minutes tops."

"Fifteen."

"Thirty."

"Ten."

"That's not how negotiating works," Ginny said.

"I don’t bloody well care, just get out of my sight."

Ginny bit back a retort, but turned to leave without another word.

As soon as she passed through the flap of the tent, she took in a long, calming breath of warm night air before beginning the long trek to the locker rooms. 

All the tents were set up behind the stands which thankfully obscured any view of the pitch. But even if she were stopped by someone, there was nothing in the rulebooks against taking a midnight stroll.

When she finally reached the locker rooms, Ginny lit her wand. The building seemed a bit eerie this time of night without the boisterous voices of players and coaches echoing off every corner. She made quick work of slipping into her changing stall and grabbing her broom. 

There was no hiding now. The pitch remained partially illuminated even at this time of day, and anyone wandering by would surely spot her at once. But she was confident they were all tucked up into their beds by now, willing the night to go by quickly so they’d be one day closer to finally getting out of here. 

Brushing those thoughts aside for now, Ginny mounted her broom and shot up into the air.

And at long, long last, she was flying.

It was like a shot of calming draught in her veins. And every breath she took seemed so much sweeter than any she’d taken before. Nearly a fortnight had gone by without this. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been away from a broom for so long since she’d first picked one up all those years ago. 

With her eyes closed, Ginny let her broom idly cruise through the air. True to her word, she avoided any stunts or manoeuvers on the off chance that a virus had incubated inside of her since leaving Harry's office earlier today.

Ginny snorted, thinking of her teammates--mainly Hen--mocking Harry's serious tone while pushing up imaginary glasses.

_ "A fortnight to incubate. If you leave even one second earlier than your designated 336 hours, then you  _ will _ die a horrible, gruesome death." _

At the time, Ginny had told her to knock it off. But in the privacy of her own thoughts, even she had to admit it was a bit funny.

Nothing like Harry at all, of course. But funny.

Well, all right...maybe a bit like Harry.

But in that cute, nerdy way of his she found completely endearing.

Ginny smiled to herself at the thought of him. It was unfortunate, really. That they had to meet under such circumstances. She knew there were rules about healer-patient relations. And while she was more than willing to risk her own neck and break the rules, she’d never risk Harry’s. 

No, she was content with the plan to look him up one day when all this was over. Shameless flirting would have to do for now. As would a very, very active imagination.

“Miss Weasley.”

Ginny paused, her heart skipping a beat. 

Okay, her imagination wasn’t  _ that _ good. 

“Miss  _ Weasley _ .”

She whipped her head around and spotted a figure standing on the pitch looking up at her. And as she descended back down to the ground, she could clearly see the disapproval written all over his face. 

“Harry?”

He crossed his arms and then uncrossed them. And then he crossed them again, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. 

“I, er…” Ginny said, feeling her face heat up. “I can explain.”

“Can you?” he said in disbelief. 

She dismounted her broom and held it up at her side. “Well…” she said. “No, actually. I can’t.”

Harry shook his head and turned his back to her for a moment, placing his hands at his sides. 

Ginny looked him up and down. He’d clearly been sleeping, if his white shirt and flannel pyjamas were anything to go by. Not to mention his major case of bedhead, which unfortunately looked way too attractive on him at the moment. 

“Are you angry?” she said. 

At this, he turned back around, the answer rather obvious by his expression. 

“Angry?” he said, walking closer to her. “Confused, more like.” 

Ginny’s lips parted as she stared at him.

“Sure, I expected something like this to happen--was even waiting for it, if I’m being honest,” he said. “But out of every single member of this team,  _ you _ were the last one I thought I’d find here.”

“And for what?” he added quietly, throwing his hands up.

She shifted her eyes away. Somehow “I was bored” seemed like a pretty stupid excuse now.

Harry let out a heavy sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I know none of you take this seriously," he said. "You're Quidditch players. You're the healthiest of the healthy. Nothing could ever touch you."

"That's not what I think," Ginny said, feeling annoyed now. "I asked you the other day about elevation sickness, don't you remember? I took all the precautions you mentioned."

"I was speaking in generalities," Harry said with a bit of force. "I thought we were just having a conversation. I didn't realise you were doing research for your own benefit."

Ginny had nothing to say to that so she only frowned. 

"If risking your own life isn't enough to deter you, then what about your spot on the team?" he said. "I could easily report you right now, you realise that? In fact, I should do."

She flicked her eyes up at him. "You wouldn't."

"Why not?" he said. "I barely know you. And you sure as hell don't know me."

For some reason, that felt like a bigger punch to the gut than anything he’d said so far. 

"Well," she said. "I suppose I...severely miscalculated things then. I thought we were becoming friends."

"Friends?" Harry said before letting out a humourless chuckle. "Friends don't twist each other's words then go behind their backs.”

And all of a sudden, Ginny understood what was going on here. 

“I didn’t--” she blurted out before letting out a loud exhale. “You think this is personal? Harry, I didn’t plan this.”

“Didn’t you?” he said, clearly not believing her. 

“ _ No,”  _ she said. “Are you kidding me, right now? What...you think I’ve been trying to get close to you all this time so that I could use you for information?”

“Or perhaps so that I wouldn’t report you out of loyalty,” he said. “Take your pick.”

Ginny let out a groan of frustration and threw her hands up in the air. “You’ve got this completely wrong.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said, her voice drowning his out. “But you’re right about one thing. You  _ don’t  _ know me. Because if you did, you’d know that sometimes I don’t use my stupid head when I should. You’d know that flying to me is like a bloody addiction, and everyday I go without it, I feel more and more as if I can’t breathe. And yes...that may seem dramatic, silly,  _ ridiculous _ . Whatever you want to call it, I’ve heard it all. But it’s true! And it’s got absolutely nothing to do with you.”

She picked up her broomstick and began walking away, heart pounding loudly in her ears and a million different thoughts rushing through her mind at once. 

“Wait,” Harry said. 

Against her better judgement, she paused in her step. “What?” she said through gritted teeth as Harry positioned himself in front of her. 

He was visibly clenching his jaw at first, but then he let out a small breath. “Okay,” he said. 

She furrowed her eyebrows. “Okay...?”

He shrugged. “Okay, I get it,” he said. “I mean--I understand where you’re coming from.”

“You do?”

“I do,” he said. “But that doesn’t make what you did right. You still broke the rules, you still put your life in danger. I think I’m allowed to be angry about that.”

Ginny swallowed hard. “You are,” she said. “And I’m sorry.”

“I don’t need an apology,” he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “It’s not personal, remember?”

She looked up quickly and was relieved to see the sincerity in his eyes. “Not one bit,” she said, willing him to believe her. “Trust me, Harry...you’ve been one of the only good things about being stuck here”

His eyes widened just a fraction. 

“I honestly didn’t even think about you when I grabbed my broom tonight,” she said, shaking her head. “I should’ve done, though. I mean...you put in all this work day after day, take everyone’s shit with no complaint. And here I am...doing one of maybe two things you explicitly told me not to do. You must think I’m so selfish.”

Harry’s face softened as he stared at her. “Well...nobody’s perfect, I suppose.”

A surprised laugh escaped her. “You’re supposed to say I’m  _ not _ selfish, you prat.”

He grinned at her. “You’re not selfish...most of the time,” he said. “At least, I assume so. I wasn’t lying before, I really don’t know you that well.”

She nodded in thought. “That’s true,” she said. “But you could  _ get to _ know me. As well as you’d want to, anyway.”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “Are you…”

“Asking you out?” Ginny said. “Yes.”

“You mean...all this time, you…?”

“Found you unbearably attractive?” she said. “Yes.”

“And...did you know…?”

“That you felt the same?” she said. “I was kind of hoping so, yeah.”

His eyes widened fully now. “Wow, okay,” he said a little breathlessly. “Right...yes. That’s good.”

Ginny tried and failed to hold back a smile. 

“And I do, by the way,” he said, gesturing towards her. “Find you attractive, I mean.”

“Unbearably so?” she said.

“Oh...you’ve no idea,” he said, his voice cracking a bit. 

She couldn’t help the giggle that left her mouth, and Harry’s face practically lit up in response. 

“We should, er...get to bed,” he said, pointing his thumb behind him. “I mean, our own respective beds, obviously.”

“Obviously,” she said, mocking his voice. “Where do you even sleep, anyway?”

“On the exam table.”

She looked at him in surprise, and he barked out a laugh. 

“I’m kidding,” he said, nudging his shoulder against hers. “There’s a bedroom in the back of the medic tent.”

Ginny shook her head and pretended to scowl at him. “Your loss,” she said. “I was about to invite you into my room, instead.”

“Raincheck?”

Feeling a sudden thrill at this new side to Harry she was discovering, Ginny leaned up and placed a kiss on his lips. “Just say the word, and I’m there.”

Harry seemed to be doing his best to hold back a grin. He cleared his throat and shook his head. “Two days,” he said, starting to walk backwards towards his tent. “Then I’m taking you out.”

“Dunno if I’ll be able to wait that long,” she said. “You know what I’m like.”

“Oi,” he said pointing a finger at her. “Don’t test me, Weasley.”

“Ginny,” she said.

He bowed his head. “Ginny,” he said, saying her name for the first time in a voice so sexy she had to force herself to stay put. 

“Oh and by the way,” Harry said, pausing in his step. “I obviously...won’t be reporting you. Just wanted to clear that up.”

“Oh, right,” she said, sobering up a bit. “You don’t have to do that, Harry. I don’t want you lying for me.”

“Well, I wasn’t planning on it to begin with,” he said. “I would never turn you in.”

She licked her lips. “Why? Because you have feelings for me?” she said, not sure what answer she preferred to hear. 

He snorted loudly. “Fuck no,” he said as if she were being daft. “Because I want your bloody team to finally win the Cup this year, that’s why. God...piss off to bed, would you?”

Ginny sighed as she watched him walk away, wondering if perhaps, this was what true love felt like.

  
  
  



End file.
